The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1887-12-09
THE GATNIP GARDEN.

OfCi tuC tpbsibC VI SDiOl duu, ttIlu tlSCNliCIt3
too, this judge was famed for his goodness
and his learning. In fact, he was so good
and so learned that one Christmas Eve
Santa Claus came and brought him a
proud.
81 will rear this little son to be good
and great jurist," said he, land when
am old and feeble he will be the staff and
comfort of my age"
One of the first things Judge Toll did
was to hire a nurse to take care of the
pretty little boy, for it so happened, sadly
enough, that the baby's mother was not
strong enough to carry the baby and
amuse it all the time. The nurse was a
kindly old lady who had lived way down
in the far East where there were many,
many little baby girls and some baby
boys, so she knew all about babies and just
how to take care of them.
This baby was very fond of his nurse
and he would lie in her lap and admire
her antique style of architecture, or would
pat her wrinkled cheeks and coo the
sweetest baby music Imaginable. This
made Judge Toll very happy.
GLOW handsome and contented the baby
is he would say to himself, "and what a
good and great jurist he will becon;em
But one day the ole nurse came to the
judge and said: "We must do something
for the baby"
The judge was vastly astonished.
''You surely do not mean to tell me
that the baby is sick?" he exclaimed.
"No, not exactly sick," said the, old
nurse, ''but he needs toning up. He is fat
and strong and contented, but there is a
kind of look in his eyes that tells me that
he needs a tonic"
'Then we will call the DOCTOR said
Judge Toll excitedly.
''There's no need of that" protested the
old nurse 1.-THE doctor would simply
laugh at you and say that the baby was
all right. But know, just as we'll as
know anything, that that child needs ton
ing up''
"Well, then, what shall it be?' asked
Judge Toll ''Paregoric, squills, castor
oil, hive syrup. belladonna or what?'
stNone of them,' answered the old
nurse, 'for they are all drugs, and the
baby dosen't need drugs. What he needs
is toning up"
The judge said nothing: he did not know
what to say. OF law, of politics, of min
ing, of literature, and of other worldly
things he knew much, but of baby toncs
he knew simply nothing.
''What the baby needs is catnip tea"
said the old nurse. ''Nothing will tone
up baby's system like catnip tea. Down
in Vermont an Maine an Mass chusetts
they always bring up their babies on cat
nip tea, an that's why their babies make
such smart men an women
''But thought catnip was something
cats ate, " interposed the judge.
claw me, an so it is" said the old
nurse, ''but it's just as likely living for
human folks. Why, there's nothin' in the
world that'll tone up weak system like
bowl of strong catnip tea. l hate to see
this blessed child pinin' for what'd be the
maxim of him.
81 know nothing about it at all" said
Judge Toll, ''but if you say the baby needs
catnip, I'll get some for him."
Judge Toll went all over town after cat
nip-into every drug store, every grocery
and every doctors Office but not a sprg of
catnip could he find anywhere.
''You will have to send East for it, :"
the druggist said; sit doesn't grow out
here in Colorado, and the freight rates
across the plains are SO great that we can't
afford to bring it here"
'Then send East for it l will" cried
Judge Toll And so he did; that very
night he wrote to an old college friend in
Massachusetts,, informing him of his di-
lemma and begging him to send forthwith
goedly lot Of catnip, no matter how
much it cost! You see, he was bound to
get the tonic which the old nurse said the
baby needed.
w ell, III dOOil tuitc WcthS tuciC CaihC
along large express package from the
East, and when Judge Toll opened it he
found that it contained forty-nine punches
of green catnip. Oh, how fresh and fra
grant they were, and how their green
leaves and assertive odors took one back
across the arid plains and the muddy
rivers to the ferny wild woods of old
Yankeeland!
''The baby shall have his catnip tea
three times a day nowr' cried the judge.
'Here's enough to last n year., said the
old nurse.
'I'll tell you what Wen do; We'll plant
some o. these punches in the yard, an
whenever we need few leaves for tea
we can step out an pluck them. So We
will have an ever-increasin' supply"
THAT'S good plan" said the judge.
"We will plant these healing herbs at once
and they shall beautify and perfume our
premises" That afternoon the judge
planted the catnip bushes in pretty rows
in the front yard and every morning and
evening thereafter he irrigated them care
fully. Immediately they took root finely,
and in less than week were as hearty
and as hourishing as if they were growing
on the side hills of Vermont instead of in